Lions add DT depth, sign Ego Ferguson and Bruce Gaston

The Detroit Lions have signed a pair of free agent defensive tackles in Ego Ferguson and Bruce Gaston. Both players missed the 2016 season with Ferguson sitting out due to shoulder and knee issues while Gaston spent time on the Carolina Panthers practice squad.

Ferguson, a second round pick in the 2014 NFL draft out of LSU was waived by the Chicago Bears before being claimed by the Packers only to be waived on a failed physical designation earlier this offseason.

Entering his fourth season, Ferguson did start to show improvement in 2015 registering a run defense grade of 73.0 through four games before a torn patellar tendon ended his season.

Gaston bounced between the Vikings, Chargers and Eagles before landing on the Panthers practice squad in 2016. A former undrafted free agent out of Purdue, Gaston appeared in nine games in 2015 playing mostly in passing situations with 60.9 percent of snaps coming as a pass rusher.